Broadcasters led with reports on a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 that hit New Zealand early this morning (NHK) and the GOJ’s plan to formally decide today to extend the state of emergency for the Tokyo area by two weeks (NTV, TBS, Fuji TV, TV Asahi).

Top stories in national dailies included U.S. Forces Japan’s planned drills off the Senkaku Islands in February (Yomiuri), a U.S. plan to build a missile network against China along the first island chain stretching from Okinawa through the Philippines (Nikkei), China’s accelerating construction of large ships in a bid to create a more powerful navy (Mainichi), activities by QAnon members in the United States (Sankei), and the Ministry of Communications’ probe into NTT’s alleged wining and dining of its senior officials (Asahi).